Valentina and Dante walked hand in hand through the bustling streets of the human city, immersed in a blend of anonymity and irony. To any onlooker, they would be just two more faces in the crowd, with no inkling of the true identity behind those seemingly ordinary figures. The situation was so unusual that it bordered on the comical.
Dante could hardly believe he was there, hand in hand with Valentina, on a date. After all, the relationship between them had always been... complicated, to say the least. Valentina and Dante were like distorted mirrors of each other, similar in some aspects and completely different in others.
"What would you like to do?" Dante asked, breaking the silence as their steps carried them through the bustle of the streets. "I don't know much about this world... You've only brought me to the human world once," he added, letting out a murmur. Valentina gave him a thoughtful, attentive look for a moment. Memories of moments shared with Dante since childhood flashed through her mind.
"I'm sorry," Dante heard, and he was genuinely surprised, turning quickly to face her, with an expression of disbelief on his face. It was as if he had never heard such a thing from her before. After all, who was this woman? None other than the Strongest Woman! Why was she apologizing to him? It was truly unnerving!
"Sorry?" he replied, confused, watching his "mother's" expression with surprise. Valentina couldn't help but let out a light laugh, covering her lips with her hands to muffle it as if she wanted to hide her smile. Dante couldn't help but be annoyed by this. "Don't hide your smile," he reproached, with seriousness. Valentina looked up at him, surprised.
"Since when do you have this power over me to demand something like that?" she teased, keeping her lips sealed, hiding a full smile.
Dante stared at her seriously, huffing. "Humph! Acting as if you didn't know?" he asked, letting go of her hand and turning away as if to abandon her there. "Tsk, he's learned to deal with me," she commented to herself, before hurrying to catch up with him and hold his hand again, lightly wrapping her arm around his.
They continued to walk in silence; however, the doubt of what Valentina had apologized for lingered in his mind, and he questioned her. "Why did you apologize?" he asked, actually, Dante still felt quite guilty for everything that had happened before... well, him dying.
"For being too protective," she said as they continued to walk, without pausing for a more detailed conversation, she was... just wanting to experience the real world with Dante for a bit, after all, she had spent a hundred years trapped in hell reliving various memories she didn't want to relive. "And that's a reason to apologize?
How silly," Dante laughed as he squeezed her hand tighter; in truth, it didn't matter much to him what had happened in the past, he just wanted the present and the future.
Holding his hand firmly, Dante simply remarked, "What's gone is past. I just want to keep living the present and building a future, with you and my other dear ones." He said, Did Valentina find it beautiful? Well, it depends, actually, she was a bit nervous since Dante still mentioned the other women, but at least she had decided she would do something different today, she would be his.
She just held back mentally, something really hard coming from the woman who kills armies and would love to flay all those strange women Dante gathered, but obviously, that would upset Dante, and that wasn't what she wanted, so despite that, she followed her path with him, walking through the small streets of the imperial city.
Dante and Valentina walked for some time, enough to explore the city streets and every corner as if it were their first time, well, it actually was their first time, the first time he went out with Valentina not as his adoptive mother, but as his wife, his woman, his whole self.
"This is good," he thought, feeling the warmth of the woman, he had felt it several times already, but now, Dante was more responsible for his reality, more aware of things and of the current world.
They continued walking until they reached a small open square, with a fountain and some benches. Dante pointed, they barely spoke during the walk, at the same time, it was a unique moment. They could forget who they were and enjoy the world for a while before returning to the daily battles of being who they are.
"Have you thought about what you're going to do? I know you're hiding something," Valentina said, clear and direct, after the discussion with Nagasawa and Morgana, she already wanted to understand what was about to happen.
"It's not the time for this conversation," Dante remarked, though Valentina sensed he was serious despite his smile. "Is this something that could affect us?" She questioned again, trying to squeeze out the smallest details, but Dante... wouldn't reveal anything to her, even if she wanted him to.
"Are you afraid your beloved husband will die again?" He teased with a mischievous smile, and Valentina knew Dante's figure well.
"Yes, I am," she said seriously, causing Dante's eyebrows to arch. "I thought you still didn't consider me your husband; that letter left me quite upset, you know? You disappeared for months and left me alone," Dante said with a pout, and Valentina pinched his cheeks quickly. "Ouch," did it hurt? Of course not, but he wanted to play a little.
The atmosphere had quickly become heavy, but Dante didn't want that. He wanted Valentina to feel more at ease to talk about her real feelings, something he had never really heard.
Although he called Valentina his wife and made many other jokes, had he ever heard her refer to him as her husband? Yes, but he never had a real certainty.
After stopping complaining about his pink cheek, Valentina commented, "Yes, I'm afraid of losing you." She spoke very seriously as she looked at the landscape of the small park, watching small children and their parents playing, pets and maidens being courted. The sun was setting on the horizon, painting the sky with shades of orange and violet.
"That will never happen again," Dante commented and revealed something to her... "Recently, when I awakened... let's say I took on some responsibilities much bigger than a demon should have." Dante commented as he raised his hand, and just as Valentina once showed him holograms of fire, he did the same. "See this?" He showed her, a small portal in flames that slowly opened as if... "You...
You opened a portal?" She questioned.
Dante lightly smiled at her and nodded. "Dante's Inferno," he said with a crooked smile. "Currently... well, I'm immortal." Dante said, finally revealing something that... "Impossible," she commented quickly, not even Vlad, who was the strongest person she knew and recognized as such, could be immortal.
"Even with some restrictions... Being a progenitor of a dimension is different from being the progenitor of a race." Dante commented with a crooked smile again, he had decided to hide this from everyone, especially from his weaker wives, because knowing about it could cause him problems, and if they caused problems for him... Well, they would deal with a monster like him.
"I barely have post-powers of a progenitor yet; I'm slowly absorbing through some kind of legacy. It gives me information every moment I evolve, the stronger I get and the more understanding about being a progenitor I receive." He explained. "So in the future you..." She commented. "I could become infinite if this hell dimension continues to exist." He commented.
Valentina fell silent for a moment, trying to analyze the situation, but a question came to her mind: "Can you create demons?" It was a basic question, but it was important for her to know.
"I can." Dante said, and with a wave of his hand, a static woman appeared in front of him. It was Evangeline appearing, but well... "It's not her real self, just a representation of her, or rather... Her soul." Dante said, and Valentina continued thoughtful, she wanted to talk more, but... They heard a bell ringing; it was a small ice cream stand right at the park entrance.
Dante saw it for a moment and felt Valentina's gaze hitting the spot, slightly curious.
"How about some ice cream to cool off? Want one?" he suggested with his typical mischievous smile. Valentina was slightly embarrassed; after all, she had never... well, gone through something like that, so her mind ended up being cleared of worries, and Dante didn't even wait for her to answer; when she realized it, he was already talking to the ice cream vendor.
"This man," She murmured as she watched from afar, her eyes slightly loving... "Thank goodness you're back... otherwise, I would have turned back into a monster."
Dante quickly returned with two similar ice creams; they were wrapped in a cone with something on top that Valentina didn't know what it was. "Here, this is yours," Dante gave it to her; it was a chocolate ice cream with strawberry syrup.
... She stared at it fixedly; usually, she avoided eating things... well, she was a vampire, but recently, she had overcome all total palate limitations.
"Wow, this is delicious!" Dante said quickly and turned to Valentina, holding the small plastic spoon full of ice cream. "Try it, you'll love it," he encouraged her, offering her a generous spoonful of ice cream. Valentina hesitated for a moment, but then accepted the offer, bringing the spoon to her mouth cautiously.
Her eyes lit up with surprise and pleasure as she tasted the ice cream for the first time. The sweet and cold flavor exploded in her mouth, causing her to let out a small sigh of contentment. Dante smiled, satisfied to see her reaction.